| Bail or Jail |
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| After a defendant is arrested, he or she is required to appear before a judge or magistrate. At this time, the defendant may request or a judge may set bail for the defendant's release. Bail is cash or a cash equivalent that is given to the court to ensure that he or she will appear in court when ordered. If the defendant appears when he or she was ordered to, bail is refunded. However, if he or she fails to appear, the court keeps the bail and issues a warrant for his or her arrest.
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| FEDERAL ENFORCEMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT |
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| The Child Support Recovery Act of 1992 makes it a federal offense to willfully fail to pay a past due child support obligation for a child who resides in another state. A first offense under the Act is subject to a maximum penalty of six months in jail, to a fine, or both. Subsequent violations of the Act may be subject to a maximum penalty of two years in prison, to a fine, or both.
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| CONSPIRACY |
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| A person commits the offense of conspiracy if he or she, with the intent to commit an underlying felony, agrees with one or more persons to engage in conduct that would constitute the underlying felony and performs an overt act in furtherance of the agreement. The person must know that the underlying felony will be committed. The person must also agree in advance to aid the commission of the underlying felony. The overt act does not need to be a criminal act in itself. More... |
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| Receipt of Stolen Government Property and Improper Disposal of Government Property |
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| Receiving stolen government property is a federal offense. The prosecution must show the following elements existed in order to try a defendant for the offense of receiving stolen government property: The defendant received, concealed, or retained stolen property; the stolen property belonged to the United States; the defendant knew that the property had been embezzled, stolen, or converted; the defendant had the intent to convert the government property for his own use.
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| CHALLENGING A JURY ARRAY |
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| A jury array is a list of jurors who are summoned to appear for jury duty. Jurors for a particular trial are selected from the jury array. A defendant is entitled to challenge the jury array. The defendant usually discovers flaws in the jury selection process during voir dire or questioning of the jurors. Grounds for challenging the jury array include corrupt summoning of the jurors, violation of the jury law, discriminatory selection of the jurors, or discrimination regarding exemptions for the jurors. More... |
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